On the Good Ship Lollipop
by Baibe
Summary: An eerie song seems to be following Alex around, will she remember what it is and find out who knows her secret?
1. Chapter 1

On The Good Ship Lollipop

**So, I was incredibly unlucky with iplayer and got this song as my entry of xTimeGirlx's shuffle contest but it was impossible to write a songfic to it. So I have come up with this which is inspired by the song instead (btw in case you're wondering about the rather odd music I have on my computer I tap danced to this song for a show last year.) **

**Set in Ashes series 3**

**I do not own Ashes to Ashes or any of it's characters, nor do I own the song ' On the good ship lollipop.'**

**For any M&C readers; it is coming soon but is on my desktop pc which is broken. Hopefully fixed before the end of the week.**

**'The good ship Fenchurch is listing, Gene. That crack in the hull is only gonna get wider. What now?' - Jim Keats 1983**

_On the good ship lollipop.  
Its a sweet trip to a candy shop  
Where bon-bons play  
On the sunny beach of Peppermint Bay._

Alex awoke with a start, early morning sunlight streaming through the curtains she'd forgotten to close and making her squint. She fumbled for the clock that was on her bed side table, 7:28. Two whole minutes before the alarm was due to go off. She pulled her arm over her face to try and block out the invading light whilst attempting to cling onto the few remaining fibres of the dream she'd been having... it was a good dream she knew that much but the more she tried to stop it escaping, the further away the details seemed to float. The alarm clock rudely butted in, "all right, I'm getting up." Talking to the electricals must be one of the first signs of madness, probably comes from living alone for too long. She felt like there was something or someone else missing but couldn't be any more specific, like the dream the more she tried to remember the less she could. She eventually decided that she must have once owned a cat or a dog, is that who Molly was? The name was familiar but she just couldn't place it. A hammering at the door broke into her thoughts and she went to investigate, 7:30 was way to early for anyone she knew unless there was something major going down in CID. The knocking came again, "Coming!" Alex undid the chain and pulled open the door expecting to see her DCI stood there, he was the only one who ever came to the flat. Instead she was met not by a person but a white envelope addressed to DI Alex Drake, she ripped it open without thinking of the possible consequences, fortunately it only contained a letter which she slowly unfolded and read. Dropping the letter in shock she placed her hands to her mouth, her mind whirring who could have sent this?

"Ma'am, Ma'am!" Shaz was getting desperate, the Guv would be back soon and he'd be really pissed off if he caught DI Drake sleeping at her desk again. "Ma'am!" She tried a little louder this time shaking her superior officer's shoulder and finally getting a response.

"Shaz?" Alex jerked awake for the second time... but wait the first time wasn't real, was it?

"The Guv'll be back soon Ma'am, I made you a cup of tea." Shaz smiled and placed the cup on Alex's desk.

"Thanks Shaz," she was truly grateful. If Gene has caught her sleeping at her desk again she would have got a right bollocking. Alex sipped her tea and tried to sort out her confused mind, the lines between dream and reality were blurred. She'd been asleep, in CID but it had felt so real. "But then all of this does feel so real." she mused to herself.

"Ma'am?" Chris was looking at her strangely.

"Sorry Chris, talking to myself." She saw Chris turn to Ray out of the corner of her eye and make the 'crazy' motion with his hand, maybe they were right for once maybe she was going crazy. Alex ran her fingers through her hair and looked down at the work she had been doing before she'd fallen asleep, noticing suddenly the white envelope lying on her desk, it hadn't been there before she was sure of it. Although if it had maybe that was why she had dreamt of receiving it. "Did anyone see when this was delivered?" She held up the letter for everyone to see but was met with blank looks from all present, and this is supposed to be a room full of detectives. Looking down she noticed her hands were shaking slightly as she lid a finger under the flap and tore the envelope open, she unfolded the paper inside and read:

Are you too late or too early Alex?

25 years too early maybe.

If you want to know where the answers lay,

Then go to the place where bon-bons play.

Alex gasped and dropped the letter onto her desk, it was exactly as she had dreamt. So someone knew the truth then, that she was from 2008. But what did they mean too late? She was too late to save her parents was that it? She turned the paper over in her hands looking for clues but found nothing, it had been written on a typewriter so no clues in the hand writing. She looked back at the words again trying to work out what they meant 'where bon-bons play' she repeated the line to herself a few times, it seemed familiar but why? Maybe it was from an advert, those things ingrain themselves into your brain without you noticing.

"Drake!" Gene hadn't really entered the room just shouted into it and Alex dropped the letter into her lap to conceal it from her DCI, they were just getting back on track after the shooting, it would not do them any good to bring up 'the future' again. "Interview room two, could really use your psychiatry on this one." She nodded and waited until the door had swung shut again before stuffing the letter into one of her desk drawers and following him out.

Gene was worried as he stood in the corridor outside the interview rooms waiting for his DI to join him, he knew she was concealing something from him. Maybe it was more of that Sam Tyler crap she insisted on dredging up, what ever it was clearly affected her. She hadn't corrected him when he said psychiatry instead of psychology, and on a normal day she would probably have insisted he use the word please aswell. He did this to rile her up, secretly he loved arguing with her and would create things to disagree on deliberately. Especially enjoying the way she seemed to come alive when she was angry and her eyes burned with passion.

"Ready?" Alex had joined him by the door, he nodded in agreement not looking directly at her and the entered the room where a thin greasy looking man was sat at the table. He looked drawn as though he'd recently lost a lot of weight, and his dirty clothes hung off him in places. His skin was very pale, almost grey and his grey eyes were sunken into his face. He was very nondescript, even his hair was grey. He was fidgeting in a way which told Alex he was a drug addict who hadn't had his fix, and he was humming an oddly familiar tune. Alex was sure it was a happy song but it sounded eerie coming from this man's lips.

"So Joshua, thought you'd rob a sweet shop so you could buy some brown sugar?"

Joshua was rocking backwards and forwards in his chair "No Guv, I mean yes Guv." Alex frowned, why did this man call Gene Guv? "He told me too, said to take the candy from the baby." His eyes darted wildly between Alex and Gene and his breathing rate increased, he'd said too much and now he was scared.

"Who told you too Joshua?" Alex joined in the questioning but didn't get a reply, he started at her for a long while and stopped his rocking.

"He told me you'd be here, the lady copper he said." The rocking re-started and increased in intensity with each line he spoke. "Said it's all about you Alex Drake, all of it." Gene looked at her confused, how did he know her name?

"Sorry, what's about me?"

He continued as though he hadn't heard her "Your wrong Alex, wrong... too late." Joshua suddenly sat up straight from his previous slumped position and then seemed to ooze towards Alex completely ignoring Gene. "But too early too." He smiled then a creepy smile which revealed rotting teeth, Alex recoiled from his breath but he didn't appear to notice just kept smiling and slowly tilted his head to the right the grey eyes unblinking.

"That's enough from you I think." Gene had endured watching Joshua try to slime and confuse his way around Alex for long enough, he slammed Joshua back into his chair and got up taking Alex's elbow and steering her from the room. Once outside he called to Viv to put Joshua in the cells then turned back to Alex who didn't seem at all fazed by what had just happened. They both watched Joshua walk down the corridor with Viv holding the chain of his hand cuffs, he was whistling that same tune from earlier but Alex still couldn't remember what it was. "Are you okay?"

"I'm Fine?" What was going on? Gene was suddenly being all caring, very odd. They started walking back towards CID, "Why was he calling you Guv?"

"He used to be a copper, good one an all."

"CID?" They pushed open the doors to the squad room as she spoke and headed straight to Gene's office. The man himself shook his head in response to her question.

"No, uniform. But he had the potential." He pre-empted Alex's next question "Took too many back handers to pay for the drugs, got caught an been pulling blags to pay for his habit ever since." He poured them each a scotch and carried on talking "Thing is, usually he's good at it. He knows what we'll be looking for and leaves no trace."

"But this time he got caught." Alex nodded summing up the situation.

"No, I don't think so. I think he let himself get caught, someone told him to do the sweet shop. Someone else is pulling the strings, and it's got something to do with you Bolls." He looked at her curiously as though the answers were written on her forehead, Alex felt like she was being x-rayed. The tension between them broke suddenly as Chris burst in to talk to Gene about a case he was working on, Alex felt herself dismissed and returned to her own desk where she pondered the letter some more.

_**End of part 1**_

**This will be quite a short fic, maybe three chapters. I hope you have enjoyed the beginning and please review and tell me what you think. **

**BB x**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all for the fabulous reviews, I hope this chapter lives up to the one before.**

**I do not own Ashes to Ashes, nor do I own 'On the good ship Lollipop'. The various advertising campaigns mentioned belong to their respective companies and Watch With Mother I believe is the BBC's.**

_Lemonade stands everywhere.  
Crackerjack bands fill the air.  
And there you are  
Happy landing on a chocolate bar._

Alex walked into the little kitchen to make herself a cup of tea, the radio in the corner was playing static. She walked over to it and twiddled the dial hoping for some music, well really hoping for voices from 2008 but she barley dared think it in case it didn't happen. It rarely did these days, she couldn't remember the last time she'd had any messages from the future. After a fair amount of twiddling she thought she could hear music through the fuzz and turned up the volume to hear it better, it was that song again. The one Joshua had been humming but it had words, she couldn't quite hear them over the static noise and turned the volume dial again to try and make them out. Gene came into the kitchen, the radio was now on so loud he'd heard the fuzzing in his office.

"It does this sometimes, piece of junk." He slammed his fist on top of the radio making Alex jump, she hadn't noticed him come into the room. And suddenly David Bowie was blaring out of the radio, Gene quickly turned it down to a more tolerable level. He looked at Alex, she seemed really distracted and was going about making tea mechanically. Her mind wasn't on the task but her body knew what it needed to be doing, kinda like sleep walking. "Five sugars for me Bollykecks," She turned and narrowed her eyes at him. "Please." He watched while she spooned the sugar in and stirred then handed him the cup. "Thanks." Alex picked up her own mug and turned to leave the kitchen but Gene interrupted, "Alex" She looked up in surprise, it must be serious if he was using her real name. You would tell me if something was bothering you wouldn't you? You know you can talk to me don't you? She nodded and returned to her desk. Gene sighed she hadn't said one word to him the whole time they were in the kitchen and he'd even acted all poofy, good job none of the boys saw that.

Gene stood in his office rewinding the tape from Joshua's second interview, he'd thought they may get more out of him if Alex wasn't there so had taken Ray instead. But they'd got nothing, well not really. He pressed play, Joshua wasn't paying any attention to the questions being asked instead he was just humming that same annoying tune and he'd looked at the two detectives as though he could see right through them. It had taken everything Gene had to no reach over the table and beat the answers out of him. This had continued for the whole interview, until Viv came to return him to the cells when he finally spoke...

"Happy landing on a chocolate bar?" Alex repeated the only words spoken by Joshua on the tape Gene had just played to her. Sounds familiar, was it an advertising campaign for Mars bars or something?"

"No Bolly," Gene shook his head "A Mars a day helps you work rest and play."

"Well not Mars then, I don't know, Wispa or Picnic or something."

Gene sighed before replying "Have you heard the Wispa, and Picnic's the big mouthful." Alex just looked at him "I'm a fountain of knowledge me, just not usually useful." He'd muttered the last part and Alex who was already coming up with various theories hadn't heard him."

"So not an advert then," She mused and Gene shook his head."Maybe a poem..."

"I don't know Bolls, but I do know that it's lunchtime. You coming to Luigi's?" He sounded really weary.

"In a minute, I just want to finish up something first." He nodded and left, Alex waited until CID was empty then pulled the letter from her draw and wrote on the edge of the paper 'happy landing on a chocolate bar.' She was almost certain it was linked to the letter which she suspected was written by Joshua or whoever he was working for.

Later that evening once 'lunch' was finished Alex stumbled into her flat a little worse for wear and threw herself down onto the sofa, she quickly fell asleep with that tune Joshua was always humming in her head. Some time later she was woken by the sound of the television which she didn't remember turning on, she recognised the 'watch with mother' theme tune from her early childhood and squinted at the flickering picture on the screen recoiling suddenly as the picture became clearer and she recognised Joshua leering at her out of the tv. She'd known it couldn't be the real tv show, watch with mother had become see saw in the 80's.

"Are you sitting comfortably? Then lets begin..." Joshua was lip sinking the words, his mouth was moving but the voice that came out belonged to a young girl. In the background she could here Joshua's real voice humming that tune again, along with a strange clicking noise.

"_On the good ship lollipop.  
Its a sweet trip to a candy shop  
Where bon-bons play"_

"Molly!" Alex's eyes sprang open, the television was off just how she'd left it and suddenly she remembered. That voice had been Molly's, she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to picture her little girl but drew a blank. She could just see the outline of a young girl with light brown hair but couldn't make out any of her facial features, only that she seemed to be wearing a sailor outfit. That was strange, why would Molly be dressed as a sailor? Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of her telephone, Alex glanced at the clock as she picked up the handset. She was late for work, "Hello...?"

"Drake, get your arse over here pronto. We've got work to do, scum to catch." He hung up before she could say anything in response, she sighed and pulled on some clothes before hurrying over to the station. As Alex walked through the reception area towards CID she saw two uniforms leading an unresisting Joshua towards an interview room,and she suddenly had a horrifying vision of him dressed in the sailor suit she'd seen Molly wearing. Alex stepped backwards quickly, blinking and shaking her head to try and remove the picture from her mind. But Joshua caught her eyes with his hollow ones and his face broke into a lopsided smile revealing very few teeth, the rest had rotted away. Alex tried to break his gaze and backed away further unfortunately bumping into her DCI. Gene held her shoulders to steady her, "Decided to show up have you DI Drake?" She didn't dare answer instead allowing him to usher her towards the interview room she'd just seen Joshua disappear into.

"Hello Alex," Joshua was cuffed to the chair, not that it seemed necessary. Another day of withdrawal had made him even paler almost translucent, his bones seemed to pull his skin so tight that they might have begun to show through. "Did you miss me?" Alex ignored his question as she and Gene took their seats opposite him and Gene started the tape recording.

"Joshua, I need you to tell me who you are working for." Alex started the questioning.

"Working for?" He seemed to be more lucid that the day before.

"Yes, who told you to rob the sweet shop?" Alex leaned forward slightly, trying to appear intimidating.

"Told me to?" It was like having an extremely ugly parrot, Joshua looked confused "The tall man said it was a sweet trip to the candy shop."

"Who is the tall man?" Gene still said nothing, Joshua only listened to Alex. Anyone else speaking was just background noise to him.

"It's a sweet trip to the candy shop." Joshua sang the line in a hoarse voice which clearly wasn't used to melodies.

"But who is the tall man? Who told you to do this Joshua?"

Joshua began rocking forwards and back as he had done the day before. "it's a sweet trip to the candy shop." He sang the line again.

"Yes, you've said that." Alex was sounding exasperated."But who is in charge?"

"It's a sweet trip to the candy shop." He sang it again

"Where bon-bons play...?" Alex tentatively sang back the next line and Gene looked at her incredulously, what was she doing? Alex wasn't entirely sure herself but somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that was the next line.

Joshua's face cracked once more into that lopsided smile showing only a few yellow teeth "No Alex, you have to work it out yourself." He returned to humming the tune and they couldn't get any more from him.

"What was that?" Once Joshua had been taken back to the cells Gene rounded on Alex.

"What was what?"

"That song?" Gene folded his arms across his chest.

"I don't know, I just remember it from somewhere." Gene gazed at her for a moment before striding to the door and wrenching it open, by the time Alex had returned to CID Gene was once again ensconced in his office. Alex wasn't entirely sure what she had done to annoy him_, _she drifted towards the kitchen singing those two lines to herself over and over trying to remember where bon-bons play. She was at the sink washing up some mugs left by the CID boys when unbeknownst to her Ray came in to find some pink wafers, he watched her for a moment as she sang. _"It's a sweet trip to the candy shop,where bon-bons play..."_

"_On the sunny beach of peppermint bay." _Ray sang back, Alex spun round in surprise "I can't get it out of my head either, that damn Joshua bloke. We're all gonna go crazy singing Shirley Temple."

"Shirley Temple?"

"Yeah, well it's the good ship lollipop isn't it?" He'd thought it was obvious.

"Yes, yes." Suddenly it made sense, Molly had tap danced to that song in a sailor costume a long time ago. No, a long time in the future. It hadn't happened yet. She left a bemused Ray in the kitchen a long with her untouched cup of tea and went to her desk withdrawing the letter and writing 'peppermint bay'. She sat back sucking the tip of her pen as she tried to think where it may be, if such a place existed of course. Not for the first time Alex wished for google. _"On the sunny beach of peppermint bay." _The letter had promised answers, maybe it was a way back home. Back to Molly, she had to try.

**Thanks for reading, if you liked please review.**

**The advertising campaigns mentioned are those from 1983 (Unless the internet has lied to me)**

**I have taken some liberties with 'Watch With Mother', although it ran till 1980 when the name was changed to 'see saw' the name itself was dropped in the early seventies a few years before a young Alex Price would have been watching, and the program I have used along with the famous 'are you sitting comfortably' line are really from the radio show 'Listen With Mother.'**


	3. Chapter 3

**Did anyone see the Man U game this afternoon? One of the adverts read: 'Audi, driving man united' I don't think the Gene genie would be too pleased with that. Anywhwo on with the final chapter:**

_See the sugar bowl do the tootsie roll  
With the big bad devils food cake.  
If you eat too much ooh ooh  
You'll awake with a tummy ache._

"Shaz," Alex tried to appear casual as she leant on the WPC's desk. "Do you know a place called Peppermint Bay?"

"Urm, yeah." Shaz was more than a little surprised at the question, but didn't show it. "It's in Devon, near Dawlish Warren. Are you planning a holiday?"

"Something like that," She smiled "Do you think you could get me a map?"

"Yes Ma'am of course." Shaz rushed off to find a map of the area and Alex planned her next move. It was the middle of the day, should she disappear off to Devon now? Gene was already annoyed with her for being late, if she left early too he might blow his top. But then this could be Alex's chance to get back home to 2008 and Molly, it was too good to pass up. She clattered out of CID on her high heels to get the keys to a pool car from Viv, while signing out the car she didn't see DCI Jim Keats join her at the desk.

"Going somewhere nice DI Drake? To the seaside perhaps?"

"I'm just doing my job _sir._" She picked up the keys and walked away, Alex couldn't help but mistrust Keats there was something about him, something dark. She hurried back to CID to collect her jacket and the map Shaz had left on her desk, glancing towards Gene's office before rushing out of the door. She didn't notice the small piece of paper which slipped from her hands and glided gracefully to the floor landing just under the edge of her desk.

After settling herself in the blue car she sometimes used Alex perused the map planning her route, it would take about four hours depending on the traffic. She thought back to Keats' words earlier did he know something? Shaking her head she pulled out of the parking space, probably just her paranoid brain.

"Drake!" Some time later Gene pulled open his office door and yelled for his DI without really looking into the incident room, when he got no answer he tried again... louder. "DRAKE!" still getting no reply he looked up at her desk and found it empty. "Anyone know where DI Drake is?" Everyone shook their heads and mumbled that they hadn't seen her, Shaz kept her gaze on the floor. She wasn't sure if she should tell her superior officer about the map she had procured for the errant DI, fortunately she didn't have to make that choice because Viv came crashing through the doors gasping for breath.

"Guv. I don't know what happened. I got back from my break, the spare keys were gone. I don't know how he did it..."

"Who? Did what? Christ you're making less sense than Drake does."

Viv took a second to catch his breath. "It's Joshua Guv, he's escaped from the cells."

"WHAT?" Gene almost exploded but checked himself, it wouldn't help matters and Alex kept saying he needed to control his temper. Wait, when did he start listening to her? Now really wasn't the time to start on that topic, he looked at Viv who was almost quaking and asked calmly; "Tell me what happened."

Viv was shocked, he'd expected a bollocking. He took a deep breath then began. "I was checking the cells after my break and found Joshua's door open, he was gone. No sign of him in the station and one of the pool cars has gone too, along with the spare keys to the cells."

"Who was manning the desk at the time?"

"Sergeant Waters, she'd still there now."

Gene strode out of CID to the front desk where Sergeant Sarah Waters was stood visibly shaking, Gene leant on the desk trying not to intimidate the poor woman too much. "Did anyone come to the desk while Sergeant James was out?"

Sarah swallowed and tried to keep her voice even. "Only DCI Keats Sir, he said he needed me to get a file from the evidence room for him. He said he'd keep an eye on things till I was back, I didn't notice the keys were gone until after Viv, erm Sergeant James came back."

"Okay love, go and get yourself a cuppa tea." She nodded and scuttled off towards the break room. Gene pulled the arrest record and the signing out book towards him and glanced over them. No new arrests in the last few hours and no-one had taken out a car or a weapon since Alex two hours previously, Gene didn't have time to think about what Alex was up to he'd shout at her for it later right now he needed to have words with one DCI Jim Keats.

"Ah DCI Hunt, what can I do for you?" Keats spoke with mock politeness and an air of superiority which really annoyed Gene.

"You can tell me where my suspect has gone and how he managed to escape."

"I don't know what you talking abo..." Jim didn't manage to finish his sentence as Gene's fist collided with his cheek.

"Oh I think you do." He punched Jim again, but this time in the stomach causing him to double over in pain. "Ray, Chris!" the two detectives entered the room, Ray held Keats still while Chris searched his pockets quickly finding the spare cell keys and holding them up gleefully. "This doesn't look good for you does it Jimbo." Jim struggled but couldn't get out of Ray's grip "Put him in the cells."

He watched the three men leave the room then moved towards the desk, looking for anything which might point to the whereabouts of the escaped suspect. He rifled through the piles of papers and files on the desk but found nothing out of the ordinary until he reached the third drawer down, which was locked. Gene pulled a paper clip from one of the files, unbent it and got to work on the lock silently thanking Sam for teaching him this particular technique. The lock clicked and Gene wrenched the draw open, sighing in dismay when he saw that all it held was one ordinary looking file labelled 'Operation Lollipop' Gene had no idea what that meant so he curiously opened the file and found a picture of Alex pinned to the corner of a document. Gene couldn't understand what the document said, it must have been written in a code or a different language but it was spaced out is verses or stanzas like a poem. The next page looked like a map but before he could see where it was for there was a timid knock at the door and he hurriedly shut the file before the door opened, it was Shaz.

"Sorry Guv, I just, I found this and I thought you should see it." She passed Gene the note Alex had dropped earlier. Gene read it quickly mouthing the last line, he turned the paper sideways to read what Alex had added instantly recognising her hand writing and remembering what Joshua had said. So Keats must have been the one pulling his strings then? "There's something else Guv..." Gene looked at her enquiringly. "DI Drake asked me for a map of Devon earlier, she said she wanted to go to Peppermint Bay." Things were starting to make sense to Gene, he flipped open the file again to reveal the map which was of a place he didn't recognise called Dawlish Warren. Peppermint Bay was highlighted. He ripped out the page and stormed from the room with Shaz following in his wake.

"Shaz get a description of the car Drake has and the missing car and call Devon and Cornwall police, I want everyone on alert and looking for Drake and Joshua. He can't have got far yet." Shaz nodded and went to do as she had been told just as Chris and Ray appeared in the corridor behind them re-enacting Gene punching Keats. "Oi, stop messing around. Quattro now!" The smiles quickly fell from their faces and they followed their Guv out to the shiny red car.

Alex parked the car and wandered down towards the sea looking around for any clues as to what she was doing here, or who she was supposed to find. She saw nothing, it was February far too cold for tourists and the sea side town was more like a ghost town. There was a small ice cream and drinks stand near by, it was boarded up and had graffiti scrawled on it. As Alex drew nearer she made out the words _'lemonade stands everywhere' _she glanced around but saw no-one, the hut was locked up with no way in. So what did it mean? Alex looked out across the bay watching the waves crash around the famous sand spit with the wind whipping her hair around her face. She turned so her hair was blown backwards and found herself looking at a desolate crazy golf course with the red cliffs rising behind it, her eyes were drawn upwards to where a figure stood at the top of the cliff. It was a small girl, her hair and dress billowing in the wind.

"_Crackerjack bands fill the air and there you are..."_

The words drifted on the wind to Alex's ears, she looked closely and although she was far away Alex recognised her. It was Molly, but how was she here? And why was she on the edge of a cliff? Alex had to get to her, she scrambled around the crazy golf and over the train track that separated the cliffs from the beach looking for a path to the top. Eventually she found one and began slipping and sliding up it.

Devon and Cornwall police had found the car, well Alex's anyway. No sign of Joshua, and Gene parked the quattro next to it following the same path Alex had down to the beach. It was Chris though who spotted her, "What's DI Drake doing halfway up that cliff?" They all turned to watch as Alex almost fell back to the bottom again, none of them seeing the small girl at the top urging her on.

"Alex!" Gene shouted but the wind was going in the wrong direction so she couldn't hear him. "Ray, try and get over there. I'm going to the top." He went back to the quattro and tried to navigate his way to the top of the cliff.

"Hello Alex." It wasn't the voice she'd been expecting to hear when she reached the top of the cliff.

"Where's Molly?" Alex pulled herself up onto her feet and dusted the red marks from the climb off her jeans.

"Molly?" Joshua laughed "In 2008 I suppose, where you belong." He pulled out a gun, cocked it and pointed it at Alex who slowly raised her hands in surrender.

"Why are you doing this? It doesn't have to be this way."

"Oh it does Alex, you see you don't belong here, you're all wrong." He was starting to get agitated "You're making it all wrong, He said, _he _said I had to get rid of you. Then it would be right again."

"Who said?" Alex was using her calm negotiating voice and suddenly wished she'd told Gene where she was going.

"Made a deal with the devil didn't I" It wasn't a question "Now I have to help him so I can be free." At some point while he'd been talking he'd dropped the gun slightly but now he pulled it up again so it was pointing at Alex, she gulped this was happening far to often.

Alex felt the horribly familiar sensation of a bullet cutting through her flesh and fell seemingly in slow motion to the floor where her scarlet blood seeped out of the wound in her abdomen and stained the grass red. As her world was slowly fading she could see in the distance a shiny red car swing around the corner way to fast and skid to a stop, but Joshua leant over her cocking the gun a second time. The last words she heard before descending into white nothingness were whispered by Joshua;

"You'll awake with a tummy ache."

There was a loud bang and then nothing more.

_'You'll awake, with a tummy ache.'_

_On the good ship lollipop  
Its a nice trip into bed you hop  
And dream away  
On the good ship lollipop._

_**Fin.**_

**Peppermint bay is not a real place, there is a holiday park near Dawlish Warren in Devon called peppermint so I have used this for the location, the description of the area is relatively accurate though.**


End file.
